In an electronic device containing a display system, a display controller receives information from a processor or memory storage device and transmits the information to a display device. The information may be displayed on a display screen in the display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT). In particular, the display controller converts digital information from the processor or memory storage device into signals useable by the display device. The display controller transmits the signals to the display device, and the display device displays the information, such as graphics or text, on the display screen. Some examples of display devices are as follows: a computer monitor, a laptop computer display, a portable music player display, a portable gaming device display, a cellular telephone display, and a personal digital assistant (PDA) display.
In a display system containing a display device and a display controller, the display system may include a frame buffer. A frame buffer is a portion of a memory storage device which stores frames of information to be displayed on the display screen of the display device. A frame of information contains pixel information to be displayed on the display screen. The display controller continually refreshes the display screen with frames of information from the frame buffer at a predefined and fixed rate. As the frames of information are sent to the display screen, the frame buffer is continually updated with upcoming frames of information by a component of the electronic device such as the processor.
As the display screen size in a portable electronic device increases, more pixels are required to fill the display screen. Thus, the size of each frame of information must increase. As a result, the storage capacity of the frame buffer must also increase. Therefore, portable electronic devices containing large display screens require large frame buffers. Large frame buffers may be costly, power consuming, and space consuming, characteristics which are not desirable in electronic devices. A compact, low cost, and power reducing display system that is capable of supporting large display screens in electronic devices would be preferred.